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56-471: Dhammayuttika Nikāya Mahā Nikāya Its most basic meaning is as a word for meditation, with meditation being the main occupation of Buddhist monks . In Burma, senior meditation practitioners are known as "kammatthanacariyas" (meditation masters). The Thai Forest Tradition names itself Kammaṭṭhāna Forest tradition in reference to their practice of meditating in the forests. In the Pali literature , prior to

112-727: A class of basic visual objects of meditation used in Theravada Buddhism . The objects are described in the Pali Canon and summarized in the famous Visuddhimagga meditation treatise as kammaṭṭhāna on which to focus the mind whenever attention drifts. Kasina meditation is one of the most common types of samatha-vipassana , intended to settle the mind of the practitioner and create a foundation for further practices of meditation. The Visuddhimagga concerns kasina meditation. According to American scholar-monk Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu , "the text then tries to fit all other meditation methods into

168-476: A fifth and, to an even lesser extent, a sixth element may also be identified. In canonical texts, the four Great Elements refer to elements that are both "external" (that is, outside the body, such as a river) and "internal" (that is, of the body, such as blood). These elements are described as follows: Any entity that carry one or more of these qualities (attractive forces, repulsive forces, energy and relative motion) are called matter ( rupa ). The material world

224-551: A new temple erected by the king specifically for Dhammayuttika bhikkhus . The Cambodian order benefited from royal patronage but was also sometimes regarded with suspicion due to its ties to the Thai monarchy. The Dhammayuttika order in Cambodia suffered greatly under the Khmer Rouge , being particularly targeted because of its perceived ties to monarchy and a foreign nation, in addition to

280-649: A phalanx of bhikkhus in Thailand with the highest probability of an unbroken lineage traceable back to the Buddha. Mongkut eventually found a lineage among the Mon people in Thailand who had a stronger practice. He reordained in this group and began a reform movement that would become the Thammayut order. In founding the Thammayut order, Mongkut made an effort to remove all non-Buddhist, folk religious, and superstitious elements which over

336-724: A very small minority. On issues such as the role of bhikkhu in HIV/AIDS treatment and education, the current Sangharaja, Bour Kry has adopted a more liberal position than the Mohanikay head Tep Vong , but is less radical than that of certain Engaged Buddhist elements of the Mohanikay order. The Dhammayutti Mahayin Gaing ( Burmese : ဓမ္မယုတ္တိနိကာယမဟာရင်ဂိုဏ်း ; from Pali : gaṇa "group, association") has its origins as "a late nineteenth-century Mon reform tradition [that] traces its lineage to

392-508: Is a disk in a red-brown color formed by spreading earth or clay (or another medium producing similar color and texture) on a screen of canvas or another backing material. The next ten are impure ( asubha ) objects of repulsion ( paṭikkūla ), specifically 'cemetery contemplations' ( sīvathikā-manasikāra ) on ten stages of human decomposition which aim to cultivate mindfulness of body ( kāyagatāsati ). They are: The next ten are recollections ( anussati ): Four are 'stations of Brahma', which are

448-546: Is an order of Theravada Buddhist bhikkhus (monks) in Thailand , Cambodia , and Burma , with significant branches in the Western world . Its name is derived from Pali dhamma ("teachings of the Buddha") + yutti (in accordance with) + ka (group). The order began in Thailand as a reform movement led by a prince who would later become King Mongkut of Siam , before also spreading to Cambodia and Burma. Initially, King Mongkut

504-423: Is considered to be nothing but a combination of these qualities arranged in space ( akasha ). The result of these qualities are the inputs to our five senses, color ( varna ) to the eyes, smell ( gandha ) to the nose, taste ( rasa ) to the tongue, sound (shabda) to the ears, and touch ( sparsha ) to the body. The matter that we perceive in our mind are just a mental interpretation of these qualities. In addition to

560-457: Is declared an abstraction – instead of concentrating on the fact of material existence, one observes how a physical thing is sensed, felt, perceived. The Four Elements pertinence to the Buddhist notion of suffering comes about due to: Schematically, this can be represented in reverse order as: Thus, to deeply understand the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, it is beneficial to have an understanding of

616-537: Is the center of the Dhammayuttika order. In addition, there is also the Sangha Theravāda Dhammayut Indonesia that shelters native Thai monks of the Dhammayuttika ordination line. [REDACTED] Cambodia portal Mah%C4%81bh%C5%ABta Traditional Mahābhūta is Sanskrit for "great element". However, very few scholars define the five mahābhūtas in a broader sense as

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672-411: The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad , the deities is identified as the source of the great elements: The same Upanishad also mentions, "When earth, water fire, air and aether arise, when the five attributes of the elements, mentioned in the books on yoga, become manifest then the yogi's body becomes purified by the fire of yoga and they are free from illness, old age and death." (Verse 2.12). In Buddhism ,

728-662: The Sangha Supreme Council . Taylor argues that this was done in order to ensure that the next supreme patriarch is also from the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, pointing to the junta's previous interference with the position in 2017 and that the suspects were all high-ranking non-royalist bhikkhus . In fact, in July 2018, the junta passed a law giving the Thai King the ability to select members of the Sangha Supreme Council instead of

784-523: The bhikkhu who was next in line for Supreme Patriarch was the Maha Nikaya bhikkhu Somdet Chuang Varapuñño of Wat Paknam Bhasicheroen. However, lawsuits involving Somdet Chuang and the affiliated Wat Phra Dhammakaya caused his appointment to be postponed and eventually withdrawn, with another candidate from the Dhammayuttika fraternity appointed instead. The lawsuits against Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Somdet Chuang were, in fact, eventually used as reasons by

840-642: The Canon." Although practice with kasiṇas is associated with the Theravāda tradition, it appears to have been more widely known among various Buddhist schools in India at one time. Asanga makes reference to kasiṇas in the Samāhitabhūmi section of his Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra . Uppalavannā , one of the Buddha's chief female disciples, famously attained arahantship using a fire ( tejo ) kasina as her object of meditation. Of

896-480: The Dhammayuttika Nikaya originally started as a Buddhist reform movement in Thailand , later leading to the development of the Thai forest tradition , the order has played a significant political role in Thailand as well. Since its origins, the Dhammayuttika Nikaya has historically been the preferred choice of the Thai government and the monarchy. Having been started by a Thai prince, the order has always had close ties to

952-750: The Great Elements. In the Satipatthana Sutta ("The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness," DN 22), in listing various bodily meditation techniques, the Buddha instructs: In the Visuddhimagga 's well-known list of forty meditation objects ( kamma ṭṭ hāna ), the great elements are listed as the first four objects. B. Alan Wallace compares the Theravada meditative practice of "attending to

1008-612: The Khmer Rouge's general repression of the Buddhist hierarchy in Cambodia. Between 1981 and 1991, the Dhammayuttika Nikaya was combined with the Cambodian Mohanikay in a unified sangha system established under Vietnamese domination. In 1991, King Norodom Sihanouk returned from exile and appointed the first new Dhammayuttika Sangharaja in ten years, effectively ending the policy of official unification. The Dhammayuttika continues to exist in Cambodia, though its bhikkhus constitute

1064-601: The Thai Thammayut ( sic ) order." It is one of 9 legally sanctioned monastic orders (nikaya) in Myanmar (Burma), under the 1990 Law Concerning Sangha Organizations. Ordained Buddhist monks by monastic order in Myanmar (2016). According to 2016 statistics published by the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee , 823 monks belonged to this monastic order, representing 0.15% of all monks in the country, making it

1120-530: The Thai government in 1902, with any Thai Theravada bhikkhus not within the order being referred to as part of the Maha Nikaya order. The Dhammayuttika Nikaya plays a significant political role in Thailand. The order has historically been favored by the Thai government and monarchy, with the order holding the majority of all royal monastic titles in Thailand and most of the Supreme Patriarchs (the head of

1176-475: The Thai monastic community) since its founding having come from the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, despite the order making up less than ten percent of all bhikkhus in Thailand. Dhammayuttika Nikaya (Thai: Thammayut ) began in 1833 as a reform movement led by Mongkut (later King Rama IV), son of King Rama II of Siam . It remained a reform movement until passage of the Sangha Act of 1902, which formally recognized it as

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1232-463: The Thammayut order to the present day. Soon after, Mongkut had other bhikkhus who were close to him reordain in this lineage of Mon bhikkhus . Among these were Mongkut's son Vajirañāṇavarorasa and Somdet Phra Wannarat "Thap", a grade nine Pali scholar. According to anthropologist Jim Taylor, Vajirañāṇavarorasa's autobiography tells how "Thap had differences with the somewhat more "worldly" bhikkhus at Wat Bowornniwet, which led to dissension and

1288-543: The Theravada monastic code by which a bhikkhu is "defeated" - he is no longer a bhikkhu even if he continues to wear robes and is treated as one. Every ordination ceremony in Theravada Buddhism is performed by ten bhikkhus to guard against the possibility of the ordination being rendered invalid by having a "defeated bhikkhu " as preceptor. Despite this, Mongkut was concerned that the area's lineages of regional traditions were broken. He made every effort to commission

1344-587: The above four elements of underived matter, two other elements are occasionally found in the Pali Canon: According to the Abhidhamma Pitaka , the "space element" is identified as "secondary" or "derived" ( upādā ). While in the Theravada tradition, as well as in the earliest texts, like the Pali Canon, rūpa (matter or form) is delineated as something external, that actually exists, in some of

1400-404: The administrative Thammayut hierarchy would begin to form a cohesive vision. Officially Pusso Saa was the sangharaja ; however, he was only a figurehead. Thanissaro, a Thai-ordained forest bhikkhu , notes though that in the early-20th century, Ajahn Mun's kammaṭṭhāna lineage formed a distinct camp within the Thammayut order which was at odds with Vajirañāṇavarorasa's reforms. While

1456-588: The air, walking through solid obstructions, diving into the ground, walking on water and so forth are performed by changing one element , such as earth, into another element, such as air. The individual must master kasina meditation before this is possible. Dipa Ma , who trained via the Visuddhimagga , was said to demonstrate these abilities. Dhammayuttika Nikaya Dhammayuttika Nikāya ( Pali ; Thai : ธรรมยุติกนิกาย ; RTGS :  Thammayuttika Nikai ; Khmer : ធម្មយុត្តិកនិកាយ , Thômmôyŭttĕkâ Nĭkay ), or Dhammayut Order ( Thai : คณะธรรมยุต ),

1512-507: The breath to abandon discursive thought. The Pali commentaries further provide guidelines for suggesting meditation subjects based on one's general temperament: The six non-color kasinas and the four formless states are suitable for all temperaments. The Visuddhimagga is one of the extremely rare texts within the enormous literature of Buddhism to give explicit details about how spiritual masters are thought to actually manifest supernormal abilities . Abilities such as flying through

1568-660: The context of some schools of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. In the Yogacara view, rūpa is not a substratum or substance which has sensibility as a property. For this school, it functions as perceivable physicality and matter, or rūpa, is defined in its function; what it does, not what it is. As such, the four great elements are conceptual abstractions drawn from the sensorium. They are sensorial typologies, and are not metaphysically materialistic. From this perspective, they are not meant to give an account of matter as constitutive of external, mind-independent reality. This interpretation

1624-579: The emblem of consciousness" to the practice in Mahamudra and Dzogchen of "maintaining the mind upon non-conceptuality", which is also aimed at focusing on the nature of consciousness. In the Pali Canon , the Four Elements are described in detail in the following discourses ( sutta ): The Four Elements are also referenced in: In addition, the Visuddhimagga XI.27 ff has an extensive discussion of

1680-533: The five fundamental aspects of physical reality. In Hinduism 's sacred literature, the "great" elements ( mahābhūta ) are fivefold: aether, air, fire, water and earth. See also the Samkhya Karika of Ishvara Krishna, verse 22. For instance, the Taittirīya Upaniṣad describes the five "sheaths" of a person (Sanskrit: puruṣa ), starting with the grossest level of the five evolving great elements: In

1736-474: The forty objects meditated upon as kammaṭṭhāna, the first ten are kasina described as 'things one can behold directly'. These are described in the Visuddhimagga , and also mentioned in the Pali Tipitaka . They are: The kasinas are typically described as a coloured disk, with the particular colour, properties, dimensions and medium often specified according to the type of kasina. The earth kasina, for instance,

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1792-453: The four Great Elements (Pali: cattāro mahābhūtāni ) are earth, water, fire and air. Mahābhūta is generally synonymous with catudhātu , which is Pāli for the "Four Elements." In this, the Four Elements are a basis for understanding that leads one through unbinding of 'Rupa' or materiality to the supreme state of pure 'Emptiness' or Nirvana. In the Pali Canon , the most basic elements are usually identified as four in number but, on occasion,

1848-669: The fourth jhana is induced, the fourth brahma-vihara (equanimity) arises. Each kammatthana can be suggested, especially by a spiritual friend ( kalyāṇa-mitta ), to a certain individual student at some specific point, by assessing what would be best for that student's temperament and the present state of his or her mind. All of the aforementioned meditation subjects can suppress the Five Hindrances , thus allowing one to fruitfully pursue wisdom . In addition, anyone can productively apply specific meditation subjects as antidotes , such as meditating on foulness to counteract lust or on

1904-471: The junta to withdraw his nomination. Wat Paknam was later cleared of all charges two days after Somdet Chuang's nomination was officially withdrawn. On 7 February 2017, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha confirmed the appointment of Somdet Phra Maha Muniwong as the 20th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand in a televised address. He was the abbott of Wat Ratchabophit and a leading member of the Dhammayuttika Nikaya order. The prime minister stated: "I submitted

1960-467: The later schools, like the Yogachara , or "Mind Only" school, and schools heavily influenced by this school, rupa means both materiality and sensibility—it signifies, for example, a tactile object both insofar as that object is tactile and that it can be sensed. In some of these schools, rūpa is not a materiality which can be separated or isolated from cognizance; such a non-empirical category is incongruous in

2016-437: The lesser of Thailand's two Theravada denominations, the other being Maha Nikaya . Prince Mongkut was a bhikkhu ( religious name : Vajirañāṇo) for 27 years (1824–1851) before becoming King of Thailand (1851–1868). The then 20 year-old prince entered monastic life in 1824. Over the course of his early meditation training, Mongkut was frustrated that his teachers could not relate the meditation techniques they were teaching to

2072-480: The military junta persecuted Phra Phimontham for his political views and disseminated the false charges in the media in order to arrest him and limit his influence, and to consolidate its power over the Sangha. More recently, news analysts have described the actions of the 2014 military junta against Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Wat Paknam Bhasichareon as also being about the politics of these two Nikayas. From 2013-2017

2128-414: The mold of kasina practice, so that they too give rise to countersigns, but even by its own admission, breath meditation does not fit well into the mold." He argues that by emphasizing kasina meditation, the Visuddhimagga departs from the focus on jhāna in the Pali Canon. Thanissaro Bhikkhu states this indicates that what "jhana means in the commentaries is something quite different from what it means in

2184-411: The monarchy and has historically played a key role in ensuring public support for the palace. Journalist Paul Handley writes that: Although the doctrinal differences between the schools had become less significant, putting Thammayut [ sic ] on top ensured that the sangha remained closely allied with the palace. This favoritism by Thai elites for the Dhammayuttika order is most apparent in

2240-428: The monks. The alleged corruption within the Sangha from these investigations were cited as the reason for the change. In 1855, King Norodom of Cambodia invited Preah Saukonn Pan, also referred to as Maha Pan, a Khmer bhikkhu educated in the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, to establish a branch of the Dhammayuttika order in Cambodia. Maha Pan became the first Sangharaja of the Dhammayuttika lineage, residing at Wat Botum ,

2296-407: The movement's eventual division into four primary competing factions (monastic lines or "stems")." In the mid-19th century these branches became so estranged that each one developed its own style of chanting, interpretation, and translation of Pali texts, and differed on issues related to the monastic code. It wasn't until Vajirañāṇavarorasa took control of a new phase of sangha reforms in 1892 that

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2352-441: The names of five qualified monks for His Majesty to consider. On Monday night, I was informed His Majesty chose Somdet Phra Maha Muniwong." During the 2017–18 Thai temple fraud investigations , Anthropologist Jim Taylor described the arrests made during the investigations as the "ruling palace regime" trying to consolidate traditional, central royalist power by eliminating several high-ranking Maha Nikaya bhikkhus and members of

2408-419: The original teachings of the Buddha. Also, he described what he saw as serious discrepancies between the vinaya (monastic rules) and the actual practices of Thai bhikkhus . Mongkut, concerned that the ordination lines in Thailand were broken by a lack of adherence to this monastic code, sought out a different lineage of bhikkhus with practice that is more in line with the vinaya . There are several rules in

2464-413: The persecution of some high ranking Maha Nikaya bhikkhus who were seen as a threat to the Dhammayuttika hierarchy or the Thai government. The most famous case was the case of Phra Phimontham , a high ranking Maha Nikaya bhikkhu known for his pro-democracy views and opposition to Dhammayuttika elitism, who was likely to become the next Supreme Patriarch of Thailand at the time. In 1962, Phra Phimontham

2520-515: The post-canonical Pali commentaries , the term kammaṭṭhāna comes up in only a handful of discourses and then in the context of "work" or "trade." Buddhaghosa uses "kammatthana" to refer to each of his forty meditation objects listed in the third chapter of the Visuddhimagga , which are partially derived from the Pāli Canon . In this sense "kammatthana" can be understood as "occupations" in

2576-416: The proportion of monastic titles given to senior bhikkhus . While taking up only about six percent of the bhikkhus in Thailand, over half of Thailand's monastic titles and privileges have gone to Dhammayuttika bhikkhus , and nine of the past thirteen Supreme Patriarchs of Thailand have belonged to the Dhammayuttika order. The preference by the Thai government and palace for Dhammayuttika has even led to

2632-585: The second smallest legally-sanctioned monastic order. With respect to geographic representation, the majority of Mahayin monks are based in Mon State (76.91%), followed by neighboring Kayin State (13.61%). On October 23, 1976, Saṅgha Theravāda Indonesia ( Indonesian Theravāda Saṅgha ) was formed at the Mahā Dhammaloka Vihāra (now Tanah Putih Vihāra), Semarang , Central Java. The Indonesian Theravāda Saṅgha

2688-421: The sense of "things to occupy the mind" or "workplaces" in the sense of "places to focus the mind on during the work of meditation". Throughout his translation of the Visuddhimagga , Ñāṇamoli translates this term simply as " meditation subject ". Kasina (Pali: 𑀓𑀲𑀺𑀦 , romanized:  kasina , lit.   'a whole', Sanskrit: 𑀓𑀾𑀢𑁆𑀲𑁆𑀦 , romanized:  kṛtsna ) refers to

2744-424: The ten kasinas . According to Gunaratana, the following meditation subjects only lead to "access concentration" ( upacara samadhi ), due to their complexity: the recollection of the Buddha, dharma, sangha, morality, liberality, wholesome attributes of Devas, death, and peace; the perception of disgust of food; and the analysis of the four elements. Absorption in the first jhana can be realized by mindfulness on

2800-451: The ten kinds of foulness and mindfulness of the body. However, these meditations cannot go beyond the first jhana due to their involving applied thought ( vitaka ), which is absent from the higher jhanas. Absorption in the first three jhanas can be realized by contemplating the first three brahma-viharas . However, these meditations cannot aid in attaining the fourth jhana due to the pleasant feelings associated with them. Conversely, once

2856-516: The virtues of the " Brahma realm" (Pāli: Brahmaloka ): Four are formless states (four arūpa-āyatana ): Of the remaining five, one is of perception of disgust of food ( aharepatikulasanna ) and the last four are the 'four great elements' ( catudhatuvavatthana ): earth ( pathavi ), water ( apo ), fire ( tejo ), air ( vayo ). According to Gunaratana, following Buddhaghosa, due to the simplicity of subject matter, all four jhanas can be induced through ānāpānasati (mindfulness of breathing) and

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2912-425: The years had become part of Thai Buddhism. He emphasized the use of the Pali Canon as the primary authority as the basis for monastic practices. Additionally, Thammayut bhikkhus are expected to eat only one meal a day (not two) and the meal was to be gathered during a traditional alms round. In 1836, Mongkut became the first abbot of the new Wat Bowonniwet Vihara , and it would become the administrative center of

2968-670: Was formed by monks who were not members of the Sangha that already existed in Indonesia at that time. The sangha organization was founded by five Indonesian monks who came from the ordination line of the Thai Dhammayuttika Nikāya order, Bhikkhu Aggabalo, Bhikkhu Khemasarano, Bhikkhu Sudhammo, Bhikkhu Khemiyo, and Bhikkhu Ñaṇavutto. The historic event was also witnessed by two Thai Dhammadutas, namely Bhante Suvirayan (now Phra Dhamchetiyachan) and Bhante Sombat Pavitto (now Phra Vidhurdhammabhorn) who were ordained at Wat Bowonniwet , that

3024-465: Was frustrated because he could not find monks who understood the original teachings of the Buddha and truly adhered to the rules of the monks . This happened because of the syncretism of Buddhism with Thai folk religion . Consequently, King Mongkut emphasized the use of the Pali Canon as the primary authority for monastic practices, and sought to eliminate all of the syncretic elements. The movement became formally recognized as its own monastic order by

3080-534: Was hotly contested by some Madhyamaka thinkers like Chandrakirti . Many Indian philosophers of both Buddhist and non Buddhist schools also heavily criticized Yogacara thinking. The Four Elements are used in Buddhist texts to both elucidate the concept of suffering ( dukkha ) and as an object of meditation. The earliest Buddhist texts explain that the four primary material elements are the sensory qualities solidity, fluidity, temperature, and mobility; their characterisation as earth, water, fire, and air, respectively,

3136-493: Was imprisoned and defrocked by Thailand's then military junta and widely defamed in the Thai media over several criminal charges. The scandal allowed the military junta to pass a Sangha reform act that further centralized the Thai Sangha's administration under Dhammayuttika control. Following a change in government, the various criminal charges against Phra Phimontham were later determined to have been false all along. In reality,

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